Author 




Title 



Imprint 



16—47372-3 OPO 




fmn. 



THE 




I N DI AN'S FRIEND, 



Founder of Pennsylvania. 



TO WHICH IS ADDED 



Bl-CENTENNIAL POEM, 



OF 80 LINES. 

Camden, N. J. ■^-. - 




ViST. 
2. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Office of the Librarian of 
Congress, at Washington, 1). ft, A. B. 1882. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



OF 



WILLIAM PENN. 



Ever since this world has been inhabited by mankind, there have 
I)een men whose characters have stood out pre-eminently from the 
great majority. 

In speaking of the past, some have to be admired as poets and 
painters ; others as having displayed their intellectual powers as 
philosophers and statesmen, and a number, not less worthy of our 
admiration, as theologians and historians. Many eminent men have 
appeared on this world's stage, in these different departments of 
science and art, but as they were dust, unto dust have they returned, 
showing us that as the leaves of successive autumns follow each other 
to the earth, so do the various generations of men pass on to the tomb. 
IJut, although they have di.sappeared from amongst us themselves, 
they have left behind them words and works which will live and be 
admired till nature itself decays. 

William Penn has not left behind him any great works which show 
him to have been a great literary character, but he might have pro- 
duced greater works than he has done had he not employed so mucli 
of his time in defending and advancing the Quaker religion, the 
<lenomination to which he belonged. We have only to mention him 



LiFK AND ClIAKACTKR Of 



as having Ijccn tlic founder of Pennsyhania to cn.^urc him of a lasting 
fame. 

It was he who drew out the i^kin of the magnificent city of Phila- 
delphia. It may be said of his writings, as of Thomas DeQuincey's, 
they are a glorious congregation of threads and patches. In them 
he does not dis])lay the giant mind of a Shakspere, the philosophy of 
a Newton, the genius of a Milton, or the knowledge of a Bacon or 
Macaulay, yet in his <j\vn sphere of life he was a great man, and well 
worthy of our consideration. 

His greatness chiefly lay in his untiring zeal and ardent desire for 
the general welfare of mankind. To have a proper view of such a 
character as Penn, we must carry om- minds back to the times in 
which he lived, and remember that his lot was cast in an age of great 
political and religious conflict. It was not so much for political 
rights as for religious toleration that he so ardently sighed. 

He struggled manfully for freedom of conscience ; suffered persecu- 
tion with fortitude ; was a brilliant star which appeared in the dark- 
ness of the seventeenth century. The agitated period in which he 
lived, demanded firmness, and with fortitude not to be shaken by 
reverses or dangers, did he nobly aid in bringing about measures for 
the security of religion, of law, and of freedom. We often find that 
great men are not formed without severe discipline, and in our pres- 
ent hero, we have a noble example, which will be fully borne out in 
what remains to be considered in his life and character. In walking 
through a garden of flowers, they ma}- all appear to be beautiful, and 
niuch to be admired ; ^>Ull, if wc had our choice of only a few of 
them, we are sure we could all find some that we could fancy above 
the rest. So is it in the moral world as in the natural. Although we 
ought to love all men, )-et there are some wlio deserve greater praise 
and higher admiration than others. We have chosen William Penn 
as a flower that bloomed in the past, and without any further intro- 
duction, we will now ])roceed to give you a brief sketch of his life 
and character. 



WiiJ.iAM Prnx. 3 

William IVMin wa.s the son of Admiral Sir William Penn, a dis- 
Linguished naval officer. He was l)orn in London, in the year 1644. 
and received the first rudiments of his education at Chigwell school 
in Essex, England. This place was particularly convenient for him, 
lieing near Wanstead, which was then the country residence of his 
father. As something remarkable is usually said of all great men in 
the early part of their lives, so it is said of him, that when he was 
alone in his chamber, being then eleven years old, he was suddenly 
surprised with an inward comfort, and as he thought, an external 
glory in the room, which gave rise to religious emotions, during 
which he had the strongest convictions of the being of a God, and 
that the soul of man was capable of enjoying communion with him. 
He believed he had been awakened or called upon to a holy life. 
But whatever was the external occasion, or whether any or none, 
certain it was, that while he vras at Chigwell school, his mind was 
seriously impressed on the subject of religion. 

Having left Chigwell at twelve years of age, he went to a private 
school on Tower Hill, which was near to his father's London resi- 
dence. Here he had great advantages, for his father, to promote his 
s( holarship, kept for him a private tutor in his own house. At the 
age of fifteen he had made such progress in his studies, that it was 
lliought fit to send him to college. Accordingly he was sent to 
Christ's Church, Oxford. Here he paid great attention, and took 
great delight in his college exercises, yet allowing himself ample time 
for reasonable recreation. And though he pursued his studies, and 
at times indulged in manly sports, he never forgot the religious 
impressions which he had received at Chigwell school. 

These had been considerably strengthened by the preaching of 
Thomas Loe, a layman, who had belonged to the University of 
O.^ord, but had then become a Quaker. The doctrines which he 
promulgated seem to have given a new turn to the mind of Penn. 
Accordingly he, with a few other students, whom he found to have 
rcli'dous emotions in unison with his own. withdrew from the 



Life and Character of 



national forms of worship, and hold private meetings, where they 
carried on devotional exercises amongst themsehes. This gave great 
offence to the heads of the college, and Penn, at the age of sixteen, 
with the others, was fined for non-conformity. 

At this time an order came down from Charles the Second that 
surplices should be worn by the students according to the custom of 
ancient times. This was an unusual sight then at the universit)-. 
Penn thought that the simplicity and spirituality of the christian 
religion would be destroyed by the introduction of outward cere- 
monies and forms, was entirely opposed to them. He and several 
others fell upon their felloAv-students who appeared in them, and tore 
them over their 'heads. Being guilty of such conduct they were 
expelled from college. 

In our opinion, we do not think he was justified in going so rashly 
to work, and though we do not see any good which would have 
resulted from the wearing of the surplices, neither can we see any 
harm, so that Ave give him no credit for the manner in which he 
acted in this affair. 

After his expulsion from college he returned home. His father 
received him coldly, on account of the public disgrace he had 
incurred ; but "he w-as more displeased at him for abandoning what 
he called, the fashionable world, and mixing only with serious and 
religious people. His fiither thought that his manners, and the 
company he held, would be an obstruction in the way of his getting 
on in the world. He argued with him ; this had no effect. He 
proceeded to blows ; but made nothing by that. He, therefore, 
turned him out of doors. 

The father, however, either relenting, or hoping to gain his point 
by other means, brought him back to his own house. Afterward he 
sent him to France, hoping that the change of scene and the gaiety 
of French manwers might wean him from his old connections. 
l^emaining a short time in Paris, he then proceeded to Italy, and 
irom thence home. This journey had not the desired effect his 



Willi AM Pexx. 



rather wished : another j)lan must be tried, and liaving three estates 
in Ireland, he sent him there to take the management of them. All 
went on well for a short time, but Penn happening to be at Cork on 
business, was informed that Thomas Loe (before mentioned) was to 
preach in that city soon. He heard him preach, and the effect was 
the conviction of Penn, who afterwards constantly attended the 
meetings of the Quakers, notwithstanding all obstacles. 

Shortly after this he was at another meeting of the Quakers, and a 
iiroclaraation having been issued against all tumultuous assemblies, 
iie and many others were committed to prison. 

In prison he wrote to a party of some influence, stating his case, 
and he was discharged from his i)lace of confinement. His father 
was informed that he had become a Quaker, and sent for him to come 
home. The son obeyed, and the interview which passed between 
them is said to have been very affecting. It seems that his father 
ardently desired the promotion of his temporal interests, which he 
feared would be hindered by the way of life he had embraced. The 
son, sensible of the duty he owed his parents, and afflicted in 
believing that he could not obey him, but at the risk of his eternal 
welfare, humbly informed him that he could not act contrary to his 
conscience, for which he was expelled the second time from the 
pater;ial roof. 

We have to view him now as thrown upon the world without the 
means of subsistence, deriving support only from the belief that those 
who left houses, and parents, and land, for the kingdom of God's 
.sake, would not be left unprovided for. His mother kept up a 
correspondence with him privately, and sent him money ; he was 
also looked to by other kind friends, so that he was never left 
destitute. 

In his twenty-fourth year he became a preacher of the gosi)el and 
an author. But being a Quaker, and owing to the doctrine that he 
taught as such, coupled with the severity of the times, he was again 
put in prison. In this place he wrote a work entitled " No Cress, 



6 Life and Character of 

No Crown," the [)urport of whicli was to show that those who did 
not suffer for Christ here would not wear a crown in heaven. This 
work is rich in doctrine and scriptural example, profuse in a display 
of history ; shows that its author must have been an extensive reader, 
and had a considerable knowledge of the world. 

After being in confinement for several months, a message was sent 
from the king for his discharge ; and no sooner was he liberated 
himself, than we find him employing his time in visiting those of his 
suffering brethren, comforting them under their trials and sufferings. 
He drew up an account of several of their cases and presented them 
to the Council— the result of whicli was that an order was obtained 
for their release. 

The Conventicle Act came out this year (1670) by which the 
meeting of dissenters was forbidden under severe penalties. Penn 
was one of the earliest victims to its decrees. As usual he preached 
and, as usual, he was put in prison for doing so. In a short time his 
ever memorable trial came on, which lasted five days. On the third 
day, the jury returned a verdict of "Not Guilty," to the great 
dissatisfaction of the persons present on the bench as justices ; they 
were kept in confinement two days longer, without receiving any 
refreshment. On the fifth day they returned the same verdict. They 
were fined in forty marks each for not finding the prisoner guilty, 
and Penn was fined the same for having his hat on while in court. 
.He could not pay the fine, and was kept in confinement. His 
father, however, soon after paid it, and he got out of his cell once 
more to have a sight of the green trees around him and the blue sky 
above him. This trial is inserted in his works, and any reader will 
be amply repaid by a perusal of it. It shows how nobly Penn stood 
up in his own defence; his legal knowledge; his firmness; and the 
oppression of the times. 

His father became reconciled to him, took ill, and sent for him : 
told him on his dying bed to do nothing against his conscience ; 
admired him for his plain way of preaching, plain way of living, and 
left him an estate worth fifteen thousand pounds per annum. 



William I'exn. 7 

Again was he put in lu-ison. ^\'hile th'erc he wrote to the High 
Court of Parliamenl. Comes out of prison ; travels into Holland 
and Germany, reuirns to I^ngland and gets married, as all wise men 
do, and settled down at RickmansAvorth in Hertfordshire. During 
the next eight years of his life, from his twenty-eighth to his thirty- 
sixth year, his time is chiefly emjiloyed in writing works of various 
kinds, such as "England's Present Interest Considered;" ''Naked 
Truth Needs no Shift:" ^-.Xn Epistle to the Children of Light in 
this Generation;" " I'jigland's Great Interest in the Choice of a 
New Parliament," and about thirty others on topics similar to the 
above, all of which are i)roofs of an nctive mind : one well stocked 
with knowledge, and applied to the welfare of his country. 

Penn's father had advanced large sums of money for the good of the 
naval service, and his pa)' was also in arrears. For these two claims 
the government was indebte<l to him no less a sum than sixteen 
thousand pounds. His son William was desirous, therefore, ot 
closing this account, and petitioned Charles, the Second, that letters 
I)atent might be granted him for land in America to that amount. 

The King having read the {petition, sent it to the Privy Council, 
afterwards to the Lords' Committee of Trade and Plantations. Crreat 
opposition was made to it in both places, and for no other reason 
than that Penn was a Quaker. 

The matter, at length, ended in favor of him, and he was by 
charter, dated at Westminster, the fourth day March, 1681, and 
signed by i)rivy seal, made and constituted full and alisolute 
proprietor of all that tract of land which he had solicited and marked 
out, and in\-ested with the power of ruling and governing the same. 

This province in America was named Pennsybania in honor of his 
lather for his able services in the navy. The first thing that Penn 
did with regard to his new^ province, after having obtained the 
charter, was to draw up some account of it, and the terms on which 
he intended to part with the land. He also drew up a rough sketch 
of that great frame of government which he himself wished to become 
the future and permanent one of the proviive. 



Life and CHAitAciER oi- 



It consisted of twenty-four articles, and the first great fundamental 
one, gave all who landed on that province that liberty of conscience 
which the laws of their own country denied them, and in behalf of 
"ivhich he had both written and suffered so frequently himself. The 
jHirchasers were well pleased with the terms, and they unanimously 
,'.igned them. 

The governor, Penn. having some arrangements to make before 
embarking for his province, sent commissioners to confer with the 
Indians respecting their lands ; they were enjoined in a solemn 
manner to treat them with all possible candor, justice and humanity. 
He also sent a letter with them, stating therein to the Indians that he 
would shortly visit them himself, and be their true friend. Several 
ships set sail for Pennsylvania, and the proprietor of the same soon 
followed. 

He left a delightful letter behind him to his wife and children for 
their guidance in his absence ; arrived in Pennsylvania in the year 
1682 ; made his great treaty with the Indians ; fixed on a site for his 
new city ; drew out its plan, and called it Philadelphia. 

He afterwards met with his Council, which sat twenty-two days, 
engaged in making laws for the governing of the province. He 
jemained here for two years, busily taken up in advancing everything 
he thought advisable for his new colony. 

Hearing of fresh persecutions in England, he repaired thither to 
tise his influence with the court to stop them. When he arrived in 
f^ngland, he was in his fortieth year, and from this to his fifty-fourth 
his time was spent in preaching, in writing, and exerting his influence 
to the utmost for the good of his fellow-men. 

Having remained in England at this time for fourteen years, things 
were not going on so smoothly in Pennsylvania owing to his absence. 
He again embarked for the new world, and remained there for two 
years, when business of importance called him home to England, and 
he left his new colony to return to it no more. As he advanced in 
life, he did not relax his ardor in doing good ; for up till within six 



William I^knn. 



years of his death : he w rote, he [Jicachcd, and went about doinii^ 
good by every possible means. During the last six years of his life 
he became very embarrassed in circumstances. Having laid out large 
sums of money for his new colony, and more especially for the good 
of the Indians, he was obliged to mortgage his province for six 
thousand six hundred pounds. This money was advanced him b\ 
his friends. 

A few years before he died he became subject to apoplectic fits, and 
a little defective in his memory, which some have attributed to insanity 
or lunacy, which wc think is incorrect, judging frqm the testimony of 
those who attended him during his illness. After a life of self-denial, 
of labor and suffering, he departed this life on the thirtieth day of 
July, 1 718, in the seventy-fourth year of his age, at Rushcomb, in 
Berkshire, I'^ngland. He manfully endured the cross, and we have 
great reason to belie\e that he has now obtained the crown. 

Having now traced what we consider to be the leading incidents 
in this'great man's life, it will be our object now to enlarge or con- 
sider more closely tlie principal features of his character. And we 
think we may deduce from what has been already given, and from 
what follows, that he was a man of courage and benevolence ; patient 
and persevering under many trials ; po.ssessing an active and philan- 
thropic mind ; did all in his power to ameliorate the physical and 
advance the moral welfare of mankind. He not only laid down 
precepts but showed a good example. Several authors have attempted 
to throw out insinuations upon his character, which, so far as we can 
judge are unjust, and without good foundation. It is evident from 
his works that he was a man of ability, and from his conduct through 
life, that he was a ntan of the purest conscience. He was equalled by 
few in his attention to the poor, and his memory was held dear by 
those who lived in his own neighborhood, for the many good services 
done by him towards them. Several parents gave their children his 
tuU name in honor of the memory of his worth. And we cannot too 
much admire his noble treatment to the Indians in his colony. He 



lo Tjfk and Character of 

knew the)' were human beings ])OSsessing the same nature as himself, 
and treated them in the same manner as he would like to have been 
treated himself, had lie been in the same position. He did not take 
the land from them by force, as too many would have done, but 
l)Ought it from them. Neither did he meet them witli swords and 
staves, l)ut with a countenance indicative of love and good-will 
towards them in his heart. They formed a great attachment to him 
and said they would love, serve, and obey him with all that they had. 
He, christian-like, fulfilled the promise he had made to them before 
1ie saw them : that of being their true friend. 

. He has taught us in his much-to-be-admired dealings with them, 
that we ought to respect the lives and properties of the most unenlight- 
ened nations. By using weapons, not carnal, but spiritual, he was 
the means of bringing many of these imtutored Indians from 
ferocious habits to the blessings of civilized life. Here we have a 
picture grand, worthy of all praise ; the savage meeting with the 
civilized as true friends ; the barbarian and the christian meet as 
brothers ; and here is to be found ample scope for the artist to dis- 
play his powers on the canvas. 

The soldier is to be admired in lighting bravely the battles of his 
country : the sailor who courageously faces the mighty wa\es of a 
tempestuous sea ; but the man is more worthy of praise who is the 
instrument in God's hands of bringing many heathens from darkness 
to light, from ignorance to a knowledge of the truth. It was not to 
be great in the world's esteem, or to leave behind him a lasting fame, 
that he purchased the province of Pennsylvania ; no, he had a nobler 
end in view. 

He designed it for a retreat, more particularly for the people of his 
own religious persuasion ; but he had also in view all those who were 
suffering from religious persecution. He was desirous for them to 
leave the \icious customs and rotton parts both of the political and 
religious constitution of the old world, and embark for that empire 
whicli he had provided for them in the new, Avhere they might wor- 



William Penn. ii 



shijj (lod unmolested by any persecutors. Many of them were glad 
to take the advantage of such a change ; and it has been well 
supposed that during the seventy years that William Penn's jjrinci.ples 
prevailed, or the (Quakers had the ])rincipal share in the government 
of Tennsylvania, that there was no spot on the globe where, number 
for numl)er. tliere was so much virtue, or so much true happiness, as 
amongst tlic inhabitants of the province, and setting aside the early 
difficulties of a new colony, it was considered a little paradise upon 
earth. 

iV'nn seems to liave been a man in real earnest, or he never would 
have accomplished what he did. He properly understood, that unless 
men were willing to undergo privations, and lead a life of self-denial 
in the course of their christian warf;ire, they could never expect to 
become capable of wearing a crown of eternal glory. 

He was one who tasted persecution when he was very young, but 
these i)ersecutions appear only to have strengthened him in his work 
and labor of love, and seldom, if ever, did he grow weary in well, 
doing, being sensible that he would reap its fruits if he did not faint. 

Many a fointing heart must have thrilled with joy towards him, for 
the arduous intercession and labors put forth by him for their relief. 
While many of his suffering brethren v.-ere fined and confined for 
their religion, he spared neither time nor talent for their benefit, and 
by his advocacy of and influence, he was the means of relieving 
many from their oppressed condition. He held forth that the nature 
of body and soul — of earth and heaven — of this Avorld and that to 
come, differed ; and that no man ought to be persecuted by his fellow- 
men in this world, for anything that belonged to the next. Indeed, 
his whole life ai)pears to have been .spent in advocating for religious 
toleration, and devising means and new schemes for the good of his 
country, and that happiness might pre\ail amongst men. For this 
was he twice turned out of his father's house, and for this did he 
suiTer imprisonment so often, and we believe had he been called upon 
to die u])on the scaffold for the same, he would have counted each 



12 LiFK AND Character of 

. —m 

step iij) the ladder, as taking him a degree nearer heaven in resigning 
to his fate. In all his writings, and nearly all his letters, (many of 
them he wrote), there breathes a spirit of piety and reliance upon 
God ; and though his life was a scene of trial and suffering, we doubt 
not but he had intervals of joy and happiness the most solid and 
brilliant. 

An anecdote worth relating is recorded of him when in Penn- 
sylvania, which goes \ery much to show that he was a man void of 
all pride. It runs thus: "A little girl was travelling along a road, 
and it happened that Penn, who was on horseback, overtook her. 
He enquired where she was going, and she informing him, he, with 
his usual good nature, desired her to get up behind him.; and bring- 
ing his horse to a convenient place, she mounted, and so rode away 
on the bare back. Being without shoes or stockings, her bare legs 
and feet hung dangling by the side of his hor.se. So that, although he 
was the Governor of Pennsylvania, he did not think it beneath him 
to help a poor barefooted girl on her way." 

Although this may appear trifling to mention, yet when we see a 
great man stooping to do small things which are commendable, we 
doubt not but opportunities are only required to show more amiable 
traits in his character. 

In conclusion it may be said that he was a great statesman ; he 
seems to have had a mind capable of directing its energies usefully to 
every department of a new colony, whether in that of agricnltiu-e, 
building, government or religion. Our opinion is that he was a kind 
husband, a loving father, a nolile patriot, and a great and good man. 



WiLLIAN PENN. 13 



Bi-Centennial Poem, 



All bail the Bi-Centennial year, 

Let joy be through the land ; 
Ring bells ! rejoice, and let flags wave ! 

The time is now at hand, 
■\Vhen looking back upon the pa«t, 

Two centuries have fled. 
And now this year commemorates, 

The great illustrious dead. 



The founder of Pennsylvania, 

Good man and Indian's friend, 
Was bom in London, sixteen forty -four. 

His name was William Penn. 
He landed on the Delaware, 

Year sixteen eighty-two. 
With much joy was he welcomed 

By Dutch, Swedes, and Englisli, too. 



See in Philadelphia State House, 

His table and his chair ; 
Also the compass and chains he used. 

When planning this city rare. 



T4 Life and Character ok 



Near to the foot of Market street, 

Letitia, Number Ten, 
You'll find a cottage there, which once 

Belonged to "William Penu. 



The great philanthropist appears. 

Eouud his waist a sash of blue : 
No sword nor pistol by his side. 

But a loving heart and true. 
Under the great old elm tree, 

Indians gather round ; 
Their bows and arrows laid aside, 

And seated on the ground. 



Below its widely spreading branches. 

Under its leafy shade. 
With christian and barbarian, 

A treaty then was made. 
The treaty was so broad and free ; 

The Indians did say then, 
That so long as the sun would shine. 

They would love William Penn. 



On tablets of durable marble. 
Engrave the name of Penn, 

Who met the wild barbarians. 
And treated them like men. 



WlM.lAM PeNN. 15 

Wisdom is better thau riches : 

Better than weapons at war : 
Better than fame's high-soumliug name. 

Better than "oUl by far. 



The great man Penu, the big ehn tree. 

Are long, long past and gone, 
The Avords and works of the cue siirvives. 

In place of the other a stone. 
Ever memorable treaty stone, 

Where Indian and christian met, 
A scene so grand and beautifnl. 

We love to think of it yet. 



In that noble breast dwelt love divine. 

But he conld not keep it there ; 
He had so much of that holy love. 

With others he would share. 
But as leaves in autumn fall from trees, 

And moulder into dust, 
So man doth leave this earthly home. 

To sleeji in grave at last. 



He died in Eushcomb, England ; 

His age was seventy-four : 

Many tears were shed when his great soul tiod 

« 
To yonder happy shore. 



i6 



Life and Character ok William Pknn. 



From beyond the starry stairway, 

His spirit may come down, 
Whisp'ring to friends to bear the cross. 

And they shall receiA'o the crown. 



No pomp or jeM'ePd vanity was his, 

We -will not see his like again ; 
Let fame's high trumpet speak aloud 

Of such an one as Penn. 
Writer, preacher, poUtician, 

Lover of God and man ; 
And till nature itself decays 

Last will the name of Penu. 




m 



